What would you do if you had no bills to pay?

We have had threads on winning the lottery and what would you buy... this is not that thread. Let’s say you had more than enough money to live off of, had absolutely no bills, owned your house, car, and had enough in investments that you would never HAVE to work again. Keep in mind that your income for the most part is fixed so you would not have money to burn, but you would have more than enough that you could do anything, or nothing.

What would you do? Would you sit at home? Would you travel the world? Would you learn to play the harpsichord? Would you start your own company doing your dream job?

Knowing that you never had to work ever again, what would your life be like?

If you want different results in your life, you need to do different things than you have done in the past. Change is that simple.

What I would do is rent a small office downtown. In the mornings I would take my son to school, then go to my office. At the office I would read and especially write. Wouldn't matter if I ever got anything published. I would write the fiction I want to write. In the afternoon, I would go home and see what the wife was up to. . Hit the health club for a swim or workout. Then pick my son up after school and settle in at home for the day.

The next day, repeat.

Weekends, we would take the camp trailer to a nice lake or riverside campground and chill out.

"I am very good at reading women, but I get into trouble for using the Braille method."

I would keep working as a Planner long enough to afford to open my own little shop of hand-made goods, preferable in a cute downtown location.

I've mentioned before how the website www.etsy.com has really opened my eyes to all the talented people making things by hand. And some of the sellers on Etsy have brick & morter shops where they sell their stuff and also retail their favorite stuff from other Etsy sellers. My shop would offer classes in knitting, quilting, screenprinting, beading and all that wonderful stuff, for kids through all ages, and I would love for the upstairs to be a studio space where people can rent space to make their own things, that then get sold downstairs in the store.

Take Wee P to school
Play a round of golf (mornings)
Free design assistance from a small downtown office (afternoon(
Enjoy a great dinner with family & friends

and every three months...the travel schedule would kick in

Play a round of golf (mornings)
Wander around the town where I'd be staying (afternoon)
Enjoy a few pints and dinner in a pub or local eatery (and if in US or Japan, go to a baseball game) (and if Europe, a soccer match)

"Whatever beer I'm drinking, is better than the one I'm not." DMLW
"Budweiser sells a product they reflectively insist on calling beer." John Oliver

Travel... but not all the time; I like to have a home base
Read a lot. Maybe audit some college courses for the fun of it... I am definitely a "learner" and need to keep my mind stimulated
Do some kind of work on a voluntary basis, whether it's writing a grant for an organization, working at one of the local environmental centers, or simply assisting other people.

Originally posted by michaelskis

I would also buy an old historic mansion that is structurally sound, but in need of complete gutting and reconstruction of the interior... and do just that.

I like that idea, too. Actually, if I had enough money to invest, I would spent some of it on stabilizing and partially rehabilitating historic buildings that might not otherwise have a chance. Hopefully that would provide an incentive for someone to take the rehab work to the next level for a specific use. Or, this could be part of my "If I Won the Lottery" answer.

I like that idea, too. Actually, if I had enough money to invest, I would spent some of it on stabilizing and partially rehabilitating historic buildings that might not otherwise have a chance. Hopefully that would provide an incentive for someone to take the rehab work to the next level for a specific use. Or, this could be part of my "If I Won the Lottery" answer.

DH and I were pondering with what we're going to do with our $201m in lotto winnings, and we decided to cough up the $2m to demo and clean up a former meat packing plant on a brownfield near our neighborhood, for the same purpose of MP's partially rehabbing historic buildings. But I guess that's my If I Won The Lottery answer.

So - I'd definitely travel - maybe two big vacations a year. One for relaxation (read: long cruise to South America), and one for adventure (read: hiking the Alps, or diving the Great Barrier Reef, etc)

But the majority of my days would be spent hauling my kids around the Northeast for day trips to museums, hiking trails, pumpkin festivals - all the fun stuff we never get around to doing becasue our weekends are so busy.

I would alternate between golfing, biking or fishing in the mornings. Followed by some fun audited college classes after lunch. At night I would enjoy going to pubs and listening to music and drinks, follwed by a late night with my lady (Since I wouldn't have to be at work at 8am).

I would also like to travel to all 50 states and their capitals, thats a bit of my politcal nerd coming out, haha!

We live in a 'transitional' neighborhood with a small concentration of mid-century modern houses designed by Cliff May. My lotto induced dementia is to 1) hire a lawncare firm to care for the alleys, 2) hire 24 hour security for the neighborhood, and 3) acquire & renovate the rental houses that are downers for the neighborhood.

Summer in cooler climes and winter in the warm ones.

All the other options for travel and indulging in the arts are up there on the list too.

“Death comes when memories of the past exceed the vision for the future.”

Start an organic vegetable farm and later on add animals (goats, chickens, cows). I suppose I would market to the local coops but would also sell at one of the larger farmers markets in the “Big City”.

or

Become a peace corps volunteer or something similar to do good things in other countries.

or

Travel the US and stay at different eco villages and intentional communities along the way (although been there done that to some extent).

Honestly all of the above would probably get tedious after some years, so I suppose as life goes by and my interests change, so would the things I would want to do.

The Bear Chimes In

I would certainly travel. It would be a pleasure to move at a much slower pace on a trip.....5 days just to get 300 miles? WTF?

Yeah.....the first night there was this cool campground. Pitched the tent (or opened the pop-up camper). Nice bar in town. Drank with the locals and argued about the war, the cost of gas, and Farmer Wilson who just sold his "State Route Acreage" to a developer.

No time constraints......no such thing as a 3-week vacation....."Let's go back to the bar. We ain't in a hurry to go anywhere, anyhoo!"

Fishing would be involved. Hiking would be involved. I would love to visit Fairbanks.

When back home I would spend a ton of time on the fake city projects. So much to do, so little time.

Well, I'd definitely consider Minnesota for a summer residence so there might be reciprocity here. It's been a long time but I recall favoring Lienenkugel from your neighbor state over Grain Belt by a long shot. No matter, I can always find a local beer that's to my taste.

“Death comes when memories of the past exceed the vision for the future.”